‘Golden Girls’ back for fourth round at Roxy’s

From beer mugs to breakfast cereal to board games, there’s been no escaping “The Golden Girls.”

More than 33 years after its TV debut, the sitcom has seemed to reach out further than ever into the pop-culture zeitgeist, with merchandise aplenty.

“For Christmas, my girlfriend gave me a Sophia Chia Pet,” said Tom Frye, who plays the most senior citizen and directs the “Golden Girls” TV-to-stage version at Roxy’s Downtown.

“It’s all because of us,” Frye added with a laugh, as the boys-playing-“Girls” cast returns for its fourth year beginning this weekend and continuing through the end of March.

The rest of the cast – Monte Riegel Wheeler as Dorothy, Kyle Vespestad as Rose and Scott Noah as Blanche – are back, as well as Christine Tasheff (who also handles costumes and makeup) and Tracy Tuttle in supporting roles.

Every year Frye (who has directed for the past three) and the rest of the cast contemplate whether to return for another round as the Miami mamas.

“It gets exhausting with all the makeup and pantyhose and girdles and wigs and stuff,” Frye said.

But the question of whether to continue is answered when the four of them get together – “Thank You for Being a Friend,” indeed.

“We have become incredibly close friends,” Frye said. “We’re just screaming with laughter during rehearsals. It’s just criminal we get paid to do this. We have so much fun.”

Three new episodes are being staged this year:

▪ “Whose Face Is This, Anyway?” (second season) Blanche contemplates a facelift.

▪ “Forgive Me, Father” (second season) Dorothy invites a fellow teacher to dinner, not realizing he’s a priest.

▪ “Henny Penny – Straight, No Chaser” (sixth season) After measles quarantines the cast of the grade school play, Dorothy recruits her friends to play parts in “Henny Penny”.

If the performers haven’t grown tired of “Golden Girls,” Frye said, neither have audiences. Tickets went on sale in August, with several performances already sold out and limited availability for many others.

Frye has heard from friends who are reserving tickets of a dozen or more at a time, many of them who will have seen the performances all four years.

“The novelty has not worn off,” Frye said.

Those seeing the “Golden Girls” in person have an affinity for the sitcom, he said.

“It was a breakthrough show,” Frye said. “They touched on a lot of subjects that other people really weren’t talking about – abortion, gay rights, politics. They were very new age in thinking.”

It was also the first show where those of a certain age were on center stage, he said.

“I don’t think people realized how intellectual it was,” he said. “It’s fun and it’s wholesome and it’s adult. It’s not dirty, but it’s things people talk about.”

The topper, Frye said, is that the four main performers are Wichita stage veterans, each of whom has their own fans.

The fact that it’s men dressing as women is a bonus, he added.

“Not to sound degrading in any way, shape or form, but it wouldn’t be as funny with four women. It just wouldn’t,” he said. “The novelty of it is it’s four men.”

The Golden Girls, Season 4

When: Feb. 8 to March 31; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 10 and March 3 and 10; 6 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 17 and 24 and March 17, 24 and 31

Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas

Tickets: $30-$20, by calling 316-265-4400